6 


• 


LETTER 


HONOURABLE  JOHN  C,  CALHOUN,  VICE  PRESIDENT  OF 

THE  UNITED  STATES,  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE,  SENATOR 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  GEORGE  M4DUFFIE, 

OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF 

THE  UNITED  STATES,  AND  JAMES 

HAMILTON,  JR.,  GOVERNOR 

OF  THE  STATE  OF  SOUTH 

CAROLINA. 


BY  THOMAS  S.  GRIIVIKE  . 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

PRINTED  BY  THOMAS  KITE  &  CO. 
1832. 


IOAN  STACK 


TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

THIS  LETTER  IS  DEDICATED, 

With  an  inflexible  confidence  in  their  good 
sense,  love  of  order,  and  unchangeable  devotion  to 
the  Union,  by 

THOMAS  S.  GRIMKE. 

Charleston,  22d  February,  1832. 


This  letter  was  originally  intended  to  be  published  in  a  newspaper,  but 
circumstances,  over  which  the  author  had  no  control,  prevented  its  publication 
in  that  form,  early  in  January,  as  at  first  contemplated, 


LETTER,  &c 


SOUTH  CAROLINA,  CHARLESTON,  26th  December,  183L 

To  the  Honourable  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States,  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE,  Senator  of  the  United 
States*,  GEORGE  M'DuFFiE,  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States,  and  JAMES  HAMILTON,  JR.,  Governor 
of  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 

YOUR  equal  in  love  of  country,  though  your  inferior  in 
station  and  influence,  I  venture  to  address  you.  I  do  it  thus 
publicly,  in  conformity  with  usage  :  not,  indeed,  under  the  sanc- 
lion  of  an  oath,  or  with  the  authority  of  office ;  but  from  a 
sense  of  duty  to  you  and  to  my  country.  I  address  you  thus 
publicly ;  because  I  hold  it  to  be  the  right  of  the  citizen,  thus 
to  speak  with  his  ruler,  face  to  face,  in  the  presence  of  their 
country.  May  I  be  pardoned  for  the  opinion,  that  there  is  no 
one  in  Carolina,  who  can  do  it  so  appropriately  as  myself.  A 
private  citizen,  free  from  the  ambition  that  seeks  political 
power,  and  a  stranger  to  the  enjoyments  of  political  distinction, 
I  have  no  ends  to  answer  for  party  or  self.  This  letter  is 
indeed  altogether  my  personal  act,  on  my  sole  responsibility. 
I  have  not  even  consulted  a  friend,  much  less  political  leaders ; 
nor  have  I  made  known  my  intention  to  a  single  person  in  Ca 
rolina  :  nor  to  any  one  out  of  it,  but  the  person  to  whom  this 
letter  is  committed. 


(4) 

I  trust  that  I  shall  be  influenced  in  nothing  that  I  utter,  by 
sentiments  of  disrespect,  by  feelings  of  unkindness.  If  I  know 
my  own  heart,  I  have  banished  from  it  all  that  would  dishonour 
m3  or  justly  offend  you.  And  if  there  be  aught  in  these  co 
lumns,  unworthy  of  the  Christian,  the  patriot,  and  the  gentle 
man,  I  ask  forgiveness,  not  so  much  of  you,  as  of  my  country. 
I  look  up  to  you,  as  invested  with  a  large  share  of  her  power  and 
dignity :  and  I  am  unjust  to  my  better  judgment,  if  I  do  not 
venerate  the  station,  and  respect  the  officer.  Such,  at  least, 
is  the  principle,  which  I  have  established  as  my  landmark. 

I  shall  not  pause  to  portray  the  pain  and  mortification  I  have 
experienced,  at  the  course  which  you  have  pursued.  Nor  shall 
I  dwell  on  the  pride  and  satisfaction,  which  I  enjoyed  for  seve 
ral  years,  in  recognizing  you  as  my  compatriots,  both  as  Ame 
ricans  and  Carolinians.  How  just  that  pride,  how  pure  and 
exalted  that  satisfaction !  the  memory  of  the  past  abundantly 
attests.  The  present,  a  mourner  over  the  faded  brightness  of 
the  past,  would  be  the  victim  of  despair,  but  for  that  unquench 
able  hope,  which  trusts  to  the  unknown  future.  O !  that  that 
future,  unsearchable  to  human  eyes,  may  yet  have  in  store  for 
you,  that  glory  and  usefulness  in  the  cause  of  our  country,  of 
which  the  past,  so  soon  overshadowed,  was  but  the  day-spring. 
I  at  least  dare  to  hope,  that  you  may  again  rank  among  the 
most  honoured  and  valuable  of  our  public  men.  Others  are 
involved  in  the  calamity  which  has  befallen  you,  but  they  are 
scarcely  a  national  loss.  I  speak  not  to  them ;  for  they  are 
but  the  invisible  satellites  of  your  superior  station  and  influence. 
Without  YOU,  THEY  are  and  can  do  nothing.  All  the  respon 
sibility,  then,  of  the  past  and  the  present,  is  YOURS.  Yours  are 
the  master-minds,  the  master-hands.  Theirs  are  the  hilltops, 
obscure,  or  lost  in  the  distance  to  the  nation's  eye.  Yours  are 
the  mountain  summits,  once  glittering  with  the  beacons  of 
glad  tidings,  "  shining  into  distant  lands  :"  now,  in  the  estima 
tion  of  too  many  of  your  countrymen, 


altars  of  revenge, 


"As  tho'  the  snake-tressed,  sister  torchbearers, 
"  Th'  Eumenides,  from  the  Tartarian  depths 
"  Were  leaping  on  from  hill  to  hill,  on  each 
"Leaving  the  tracks  of  their  flame-dropping  feet. 


(5) 

The  eyes  of  your  country  are  again  upon  you :  those  eyes, 
which  in  former  years  gazed  on  you  with  pride  and  admiration 
in  the  broad  light  of  public  life,  and  followed  you  with  the  ten 
der  rejoicings  of  a  parent's  love,  to  the  calm  and  amiable  re 
tirement  of  home.  How  is  that  countenance  fallen !  whose 
expression  so  recently  bespoke  confidence,  gratitude,  and  exul 
tation.  As  yet,  indeed,  there  is  no  frown  of  hatred  on  that 
brow,  no  sentence  of  banishment  from  her  presence  on  those 
lips.  But,  how  do  those  eyes  beam  with  mild  rebuke,  with 
mournful  indignation,  with  subdued  amazement.  How  does 
she  look  upon  you,  and  as  she  unrols  the  FAREWELL  of  WASH 
INGTON,  and  points  to  its  letters  of  light,  and  its  lessons  of 
truth  and  wisdom,  "how  do  those  lips  quiver  with  intense  emo 
tion,  how  are  those  eyes  fixed  upon  you,  with  a  calm  yet  so 
lemn  severity,  even  in  tears  ! 

Arise  !  for  you  are  in  the  awful  presence  of  your  country. 
Arise !  for  the  place  whereon  you  stand  is  holy  ground. 
Arise !  for  your  country  is  your  accuser. — Look  up  to  that 
venerable,  majestic  face,  not  with  the  bold  and  haughty  bear 
ing  of  the  self-righteous,  but  with  the  humility  which  becomes 
a  child  before  the  accusing  eye  of  his  parent.  To  the  charge 
which  she  brings  against  you,  listen,  with  reverence  and  devout 
attention,  not  with  the  scornfulness  of  the  disobedient,  or  the 
reckless  levity  of  the  ungrateful. 

"  MY  SONS,  so  lately  my  glory  and  delight,  how  have  you 
filled  my  eyes  with  tears,  and  my  soul  with  sorrow.  On  you 
had  I  lavished  the  love  of  a  grateful,  the  admiration  of  a  dis 
criminating,  the  honour  of  a  just  parent.  Yours  was  the  pro 
mise  of  dignity  more  elevated,  of  rewards  more  rich  and  endu 
ring.  On  your  patriotism  and  intelligence,  on  the  enlargement 
of  your  affections,  and  the  comprehensiveness  of  your  views,  I 
had  reposed  with  the  pride  and  security  of  a  parent's  faith.  I 
turned  to  the  past — and  behold  it  was  a  fair  and  goodly  scene. 
I  looked  on  the  present — and  it  was  the  glorious  fruit  of  that 
delightful  past.  I  gazed  on  the  future,  and  my  soul  leaped 
with  gladness  at  visions  of  more  devoted  patriotism,  of  more 
exalted  usefulness.  I  rejoiced,  without  fear  and  trembling  ; 
for  a  prophet  only  could  have  revealed,  this  present  is  that 
future.  How  have  the  beauty  and  glory  of  that  prospect  van- 


(6) 

ished  !  You  are  the  authors  of  my  calamity  and  affliction. 
My  sons  !  give  me  back  the  peace  of  mind  you  have  destroyed  ! 
Restore  me  my  hopes,  and  receive  again  a  parent's  blessing. 

"  I  shall  not  charge  you,  my  sons,  like  many  of  my  chil 
dren,  with  sentiments  unworthy  of  your  allegiance  to  me,  and 
your  attachment  to  them.  I  cast  from  me  the  reproach  of  un 
hallowed  ambition,  of  dishonourable  intrigues,  of  blasted  expec 
tations.  I  tread  under  my  feet  the  suspicion,  that  you  could 
rejoice  at  the  unsheathed  sword,  and  glory  in  the  battle-field, 
as  vindicators  of  your  opinions.  I  have  not  a  prophet's  eye  to 
pierce  your  hearts,  and  tell  whether  you  are  indeed  as  to  me, 
in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  the  bond  of  iniquity.  I  trust  you 
still ;  but  not  with  the  cheerful  hopes,  the  cordial  affections, 
the  generous  confidence  of  former  years.  Hearken,  then,  to 
the  instructive  lessons  of  your  country.  Hearken  to  her  ac 
cusing  voice,  calm  yet  firm,  dignified  though  severe. 

"  Mine  is  a  land  of  family  institutions  and  brotherly  ties,  of 
ancient  friendship,  glory  and  danger.  It  is  the  land  of  regu 
lated  rights  and  dependent  interests,  of  rational  freedom  and 
temperate  discussion.  Mine  is  a  land  of  confidence,  peace  and 
love,  of  reason  and  justice,  of  mutual  forbearance  and  forgive 
ness.  It  is  the  land,  in  which  duty  and  wisdom  inexorably  de 
mand,  that  if  reviled,  you  revile  not  again,  that  you  return 
good  for  evil,  and  blessing  for  cursing.  Mine  is  a  land,  in 
which  no  citizen  is  worthy  to  be  called  my  son,  who  is  not  ever 
ready,  in  my  cause,  and  for  my  sake  to  say,  with  the  patriot 
Athenian,  to  the  insolent,  the  unrighteous,  the  tyrannical  bro 
ther,  '  Strike,  but  hear  me.' 

"  Mine  is  not  the  land  of  ancient  feuds,  prejudices  and  inju 
ries.  My  children  never  have  been  strangers  to  each  other : 
and  God  has  ordained,  if  they  be  wise  and  faithful,  that  they 
never  shall  be.  Mine  is  not  a  land  in  which  the  sceptre  of  the 
tyrant  or  the  sword  of  the  conqueror  has  compelled  into  unna 
tural  and  violent  union,  aliens  in  religion  and  sentiments, 
foreigners  in  laws  and  institutions.  Theirs  is  the  brotherhood 
of  nature,  the  holy  bonds  of  birth.  All  are  of  one  blood,  or  the 
adopted  children  of  my  affections.  Mine,  then,  is  not  a  land 
for  jealousy  and  suspicion,  for  prejudice  and  passion,  for  con 
tumely  and  ridicule.  Mine  is  no  land  for  the  uncharitableness 
of  the  heart,  the  scornfulness  of  the  brow,  or  invective  of 


CM 

the  lips.  Nor  is  this  the  land  for  arrogance  and  boasting,  for 
resentment  and  hatred,  for  threats  and  defiance,  for  violence  in 
thoughts,  words  or  deeds.  Enemies  to  my  peace,  prosperity, 
freedom  and  happiness,  be  they  for  ever  banished  from  the 
hearts  of  my  children  and  the  counsel  of  their  servants. 

"  Mine  is  the  land  of  truth  and  duty,  of  self-sacrifices,  full  of 
purity,  magnanimity  and  love.  But  truth,  and  duty,  and  self- 
sacrifice  must  perish,  if  my  servants  will  not  acknowledge 
them  as  the  guide-stars  of  their  public  ministry.  Truth  is 
mighty,  and  it  must,  and  will  prevail ;  but  never  while  deri 
sion  and  contempt,  menace  and  violence,  are  in  the  hearts  and 
on  the  lips  of  my  children.  Truth  is  mighty,  and  it  shall  pre 
vail  over  selfishness  and  injustice,  fraud  and  sophistry,  preju 
dice  and  ingratitude  ;  if  the  gifted  and  the  trusted  among  my 
sons,  are  eminent  for  discretion,  magnanimity  and  moderation, 
no  less  than  for  talents  and  knowledge.  True  wisdom  is  dis 
creet,  dignified,  dispassionate.  True  love  is  enlightened,  fore 
thoughtful,  beneficent  arid  candid.  Such  is  the  wisdom  of  the 
American  statesman :  such  the  love  of  the  American  patriot. 
Such  a  statesman,  such  a  patriot,  is  the  property  of  each  for 
the  sake  of  all,  of  all  for  the  sake  of  each. 

"  And  what  are  his  great  duties,  and  what  is  the  spirit  in 
which  they  are  to  be  discharged  ?  Those  duties  and  that  spirit 
are  these — 

"  He  must  resolve,  and  abide  by  that  resolution  with  inflexi 
ble  constancy,  never  to  harbour  a  thought,  nor  utter  a  word, 
nor  do  a  deed,  that  may,  by  any  possibility,  suggest  the  opi 
nion,  that  the  Union  can  ever  be  abandoned.  The  Union 
must  and  shall  be  perpetual.  It  is  the  very  law  of  their  being 
to  all  my  public  servants,  that  this  must  be  habitually  their 
thought  and  feeling.  Without  this  generous  persuasion,  this 
living  faith,  they  are  unworthy  of  me  and  unfit  for  my  service. 
They  who  have  not  the  courage  to  look  upon  the  FUTURE  with 
this  cheering  and  steadfast  conviction,  are  not  to  be  trusted 
with  the  holy  and  responsible  duties  of  the  PRESENT. 

"  The  next  great  duty  of  my  servants  is  to  regard  the  Con 
stitution  of  that  Union  as  the  sacred  covenant  of  my  first-born, 
sealed  with  their  precious  blood,  the  testimony  of  their  faith, 
hallowed  and  irrevocable  as  the  plighted  troth  of  the  marriage 
bond.  Their  duty  is  to  regard  it,  as  the  very  gift  of  heaven 


(8) 

itself;  not  indeed  by  the  ministry  of  angels,  the  inspiration  of 
prophets,  or  the  miracles  of  Apostles ;  but  by  the  ministry  of  a 
band  of  brothers,  fellow-servants  of  an  all  wise  and  benevolent 
Providence.  To  believe  that  their  country  is  ever  under  the 
overruling  protection  of  that  Providence,  is  a  cardinal  article 
in  the  political  creed  of  my  children.  THEIR  CONSTITUTION 
is  THE  SHIELD  OF  THAT  PROTECTION.  Under  its  broad  shadow 
are  peace  at  home  and  safety  abroad  :  and  be  it  their  trust  and 
resolve,  their  children's  children,  through  generations  without 
number,  shall  be  secured  in  this  defence.  To  abide  by  that 
Constitution,  as  expounded  by  the  wise  and  good  who  framed 
it,  and  to  acknowledge  the  obligation  of  laws,  clothed  with  all 
the  forms  and  sanctions  of  that  charter,  till  reversed  by  consti 
tutional  authority,  these  are  infallible  tests  of  the  wisdom  of 
statesmen,  of  the  love  of  patriots,  and  of  the  enlightened  ^fidelity 
of  good  citizens.  However  honest  may  be  a  different  opinion, 
however  deliberate  and  confident  an  opposite  judgment,  the  mi 
nority  will  submit  if  they  are  wise  and  good  men,  even  to 
unconstitutional  laws,  till  reversed  according  to  the  known  and 
established  order  of  the  government.  Without  such  a  founda 
tion,  there  can  be  no  stability,  no  security.  With  it  all  is 
safe  :  all  must  be  harmonious,  prosperous  and  happy. 

"  Another  leading  duty  of  public  men,  is  to  combine  with  a 
just  and  highminded  independence,  a  generous  respect  for  the 
opinions  of  others.  Whilst  he  acknowledges  the  right  and 
duty  of  each  to  judge  for  himself,  let  him  never  forget  that 
diversity  of  opinion  is  at  once  the  lot  and  the  privilege  of  hu 
manity,  let  him  learn,  then,  to  bear  contradiction  with  the  good 
sense  of  a  wise  man,  with  the  temper  of  a  good  man.  He  must 
submit  to  be  overruled,  time  after  time,  in  his  favourite  opi 
nions,  without  the  petulence  that  degrades,  or  the  violence 
that  dishonours  virtue.  Even  if  he  believe  the  rights  of  the 
people  assailed,  and  their  interests  hazarded,  still  he  must  com 
mand  himself,  if  he  hopes  to  convince  and  persuade  others. 
Whilst  he  acknowledges  the  right  of  the  majority  to  declare 
the  understanding  of  the  people  in  the  exercise  of  their  judg 
ment,  and  the  will  of  the  people  in  the  exercise  of  their  power, 
he  must  respect  that  will  and  that  understanding  thus  declared, 
as  the  law  of  the  land,  till  reversed  by  the  authority  of  the  peo 
ple.  But,  above  all,  on  questions  which  have  divided  the  purest 
patriots  and  ablest  statesmen  of  his  country,  it  is  his  duty, 


(9) 

if  in  the  minority,  whilst  he  retains  both  his  independence  and 
his  opinions,  to  admit  candidly  and  act  openly  and  cheerfully  on 
the  admission,  '  It  is  AT  LEAST  AS  PROBABLE,  that  the  majori- 
ty  are  right  as  myself.  But  power,  and  the  responsibility  of  the 
measure  are  their sS  This  becomes  a  more  solemn  and  mo 
mentous  duty,  when  the  practice  of  the  government  and  the 
acquiescence  of  the  people  are  in  favour  of  the  majority.  Such 
diffidence  is  honourable  in  the  wisest,  and  lovely  in  the  best  of 
men.  It  is  that  humility  which  is  content  with  the  faithful 
discharge  of  duty,  and  rejoices,  that  in  the  opinion  of  his  coun 
try,  she  has  a  host  of  servants  more  worthy  than  himself. 

"  Yet  another  duty  is  enjoined  on  the  public  servants  of  my 
people.  I  require  them  to  discountenance  in  every  form  COM 
BINATIONS  OR  SOCIETIES,  whose  object  is  to  wield  a  power,  un 
known  to  the  laws  and  institutions  of  their  country.  To  keep 
the  people  and  all  the  instituted  authorities,  as.  far  as  possible, 
within  known  and  established  lines,  and  to  bring  into  the  sys 
tem  no  extraneous  influences,  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  are 
the  wise  precepts  both  of  experience  and  sagacity.  Such 
influences  are  unworthy  of  a  majority  ;  for  they  deserve  not.  to 
rule,  if  they  cannot  prevail  without  them.  They  are  danger 
ous  in  the  lands  of  a  minority  ;  for  if  they  cannot  attain  power 
without  such*  means,  they  can  never  succeed  fairly  and  virtu 
ously.  They  are  still  more  dangerous  in  the  hands  of  a  for 
mer  majority,  when  driven  from  office,  and  converted  into  a 
turbulent,  and  reckless  faction.  They  are  eminently  danger 
ous  in  the  hands  of  the  LEADERS  of  that  faction,  recently  the 
chiefs  of  a  triumphant  majority,  now  incensed,  ambitious  and 
popular,  talented  and  eloquent.  If  their  object  be  to  aid  the 
law,  that  law,  when  faithfully  administered,  is  strong  enough 
without  them.  If  their  object  be  to  embarrass,  intimidate,  or 
resist  the  constituted  authorities,  theirs  is  the  spirit  of  rebellion 
and  treason.  Their  success  may  be  the  victory  of  PARTY,  but 
will  be  dishonour  if  not  ruin  to  their  COUNTRY. 

"  There  is  another  great  duty  exacted  of  all  my  public  ser 
vants.  It  is  to  believe  and  teach  that  the  people  are  capable  of 
self-government  ;  but  only  through  the  medium  of  rulers.  Yet 
no  system  can  avail,  unless  those  rulers  are  wise  and  discreet, 
magnanimous,  liberal  and  candid.  To  be  such  is  the  duty  of 
all  and  each  of  my  servants :  and  the  delinquency  of  all  the 

B 


rest  cannot  extenuate,  but  enhances  the  guilt  of  the  last  who 
betrays  his  trust.  Let  him  be  another  Abdiel,  unpolluted  by 
corruption,  unawed  by  power,  unseduced  by  ambition,  unpro 
voked  by  indignity.  How  glorious  his  title,  if  he  stand — the 
only  faithful !  How  infamous,  if  he  fall — the  last  of  the  faith 
less! 

"  Another  leading  duty  is  required.  It  is  to  believe,  and 
acknowledge  with  a  fervent  and  stedfast  faith  in  its  truth,  that 
THE  PEOPLE  CAN  BE  TRUSTED.  He  is  unworthy  of  the  name  of 
American  patriot,  who  is  not  ready  to  stake  life,  fortune,  and 
sacred  honour,  on  this  truth.  He  deserves  not  the  name  of 
American  statesman,  who  does  not  give  to  this  sentiment  the 
unwavering  confidence  of  his  soul,  and  act  up  to  it  cordially, 
fearlessly,  undoubtingly,  in  every  word  and  deed  of  his  public 
life.  He  must  belive  that  my  people  desire  to  do  that  which  is 
just  and  right,  liberal  and  impartial.  He  must  believe  that 
they  prize  uniformity  in  laws,  no  less  than  in  rights,  and  equali 
ty  of  national  blessings  and  opportunities,  no  less  than  of  na 
tional  burthens  and  dangers.  He  must  believe,  that  they  scorn 
unfair  advantages ;  that  they  detest  sophistry  and  fraud  ;  that 
they  abhor,  in  all  their  forms,  usurpation  and  oppression.  He 
must  believe,  if  my  people  either  do  or  permit  tlnfrt  which  is 
dishonourable  or  unjust,  THEY  ARE  BLAMELESS.  The  duty, 
then,  of  the  private  citizen  and  still  more  of  the  public  man,  is 
to  bear  with  them,  not  doubting  that  temper  and  discretion, 
magnanimity,  candour  and  moderation,  will  lead  them  back  to 
the  path  of  duty.  He  who  believes  not  these  things,  and  acts 
not  upon  them,  with  an  earnest  and  constant  faith,  has  been 
born  in  vain  in  this  THE  ONLY  LAND  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

"  I  demand  of  every  public  man  another  prominent  duty  :  to 
distinguish  between  the  RULER  and  the  PEOPLE  :  and  to  honour 
those,  however,  unworthy,  for  the  sake  of  these.  It  is  equally 
the  duty  of  my  servants,  not  to  ascribe  to  the  people,  the  neg 
ligence,  folly,  or  neglect  of  their  rulers  ;  but  to  believe,  and  to 
act  faithfully  and  cordially  on  the  belief,  that  such  deeds  are  sins 
against,  not  sins  of,  the  people.  Hence  springs  the  duty  of  the 
patriot  statesman.  This  duty  lies  not  in  returning  like  for  like, 
insult  for  provocation,  injury  for  oppression,  threats  for  injus 
tice.  His  duty  is  to  treat  his  fellow-rulers,  though  corrupt  and 
fraudulent,  though  illmannered  and  illtempered,  not  in  the  spirit 


{ 11 ) 

of  their  sentiment  and  conduct,  but  in  that  better  spirit  which 
looks  beyond  them,  and  mourns  over  the  people,  whom  they 
have  neglected  or  betrayed.  His  duty  is  to  appeal  from  those 
rulers  to  that  people,  openly,  calmly,  firmly  :  to  appeal  in  the 
halls  which  they  have  dishonoured  by  their  folly,  or  polluted  by 
their  guilt  4  to  appeal  in  all  the  various  forms  of  social  inter 
course  and  political  influence  :  to  appeal  through  the  press, 
emphatically  beyond  every  thing  else,  the  property  of  the  peo 
ple.  Let  him  thus  appeal,  and  he  dares  not  doubt,  that  fidelity, 
temper  and  perseverance  will  command  success.  Let  him 
not  thus  appeal ;  let  him  substitute  anger  for  moderation, 
threats  for  persuasion,  and  violence  for  argument ;  and  he  sins 
against  his  own  soul,  and  curses  the  people  he  has  sworn  to 
bless. 

"  Another  chief  obligation  is  laid  upon  all.  The  variety  of 
climate,  soil  and  production,  which  distinguish  the  spacious  in 
heritance  of  my  children,  is  admirably  fitted  to  be  an  inestima 
ble  blessing,  a  strong  bond  of  union.  It  may  become  the  fruit 
ful  source  of  jea'ousy,  dissention  and  separation.  The  prize  is 
invaluable,  the  danger  imminent  and  ever  present.  Wisdom, 
moderation,  candour,  generosity,  can  alone  harmonise  that 
diversity  of  interests,  can  reconcile  the  discontented,  and  heal 
the  wounds,  inflicted  by  ignorance  or  selfishness,  by  the  corrupt 
or  the  unjust.  But,  even  the  foreigner,  fresh  from  the  trials 
and  perils  of  liberty  in  Europe,  must  know  that  menace  and  in 
vective,  anger,  jealousy  and  derision,  never  can  conciliate  that 
variety  of  interests ;  but  will  aggravate  every  evil,  which  may 
arise  from  it.  What  language,  then,  can  paint  the  character 
of  that  American  statesman,  who  appeals  to  separate  interests, 
as  landmarks  of  national  policy ;  who  strives  to  influence  the 
sentiments  and  conduct  of  any  by  sectional  considerations  ; 
who  teaches  brothers  for  these  reasons,  to  distrust  one  another  ; 
and  labour  to  convince  them  by  argument,  and  persuade  them 
by  eloquence,  that  they  have  been  insulted,  injured,  oppressed 
by  their  brethren  from  such  motives.  And  does  not  the  patriot 
statesman  see,  that  his  appeal  should  not  be  to  the  passions, 
prejudices  and  sufferings  of  the  injured  ;  but  to  the  good  sense, 
justice  and  candour  of  all  the  rest  of  my  people  ?  Let  him 
despair,  and  he  is  unworthy  to  maintain  that  appeal,  before  the 
most  powerful  and  august,  the  most  impartial  and  magnani- 


(  12) 

mous  of  human  tribunals,  THE  PEOPLE.  He  must  fail.  He  is 
self-conquered.  But  let  him  go  forth,  calm  and  resolute,  con 
fident  in  the  purity  of  his  motives,  and  the  righteousness  of  his 
cause,  with  a  religious,  unwavering  trust  in  my  people,  and,  if 
he  deserve  victory  and  faint  not  in  his  labour  of  love,  he  shall 
prevail.  Yes,  he  shall  prevail ;  for  truth  and  wisdom,  mercy 
and  justice  are  his  weapons :  and  against  them  not  even  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  prevail. 

"  There  is  still  another  great  duty  laid  upon  my  people  and 
all  their  public  servants — to  cultivate  the  SPIRIT  OF  PEACE.  How 
little  does  he  comprehend  the  character  and  destiny  of  American 
Institutions,  who  has  not  learned,  THAT  WAR  is  FOREVER  BANISH 
ED  FROM  MY  LAND.  The  sword  shall  never  be  unsheathed  to  shed 
a  brothers  blood.  If  the  government,  ordained  by  all  to  bless 
and  protect  each,  be  unjust  and  oppressive  to  some,  RESISTANCE 
BY  ARMS  would  partake  of  the  guilt  of  murder,  of  the  folly  and 
madness  of  suicide.  No  controversy  between  the  nation  and 
the  states,  or  between  the  states  themselves,  shall  ever  be  set 
tled  by  the  sword.  In  such  a  cause,  the  warrior  would  be 
stained  with  the  double  guilt  of  the  rebel  and  the  fratricide. 
This  art,  with  all  its  chivalry  of  spirit,  and  all  its  splendor  of 
equipment,  would  be  a  loathsome  and  hideous  spectacle.  The 
blood  that  he  sheds,  would  be  unquenchable  fire  to  his  soul :  an 
ineffaceable  brand  of  honour  on  his  name.  PEACE  is  THE  UN 
CHANGEABLE,  UNIVERSAL  LAW  OF  MY  LAND.  It  must  be  indeli 
bly  stamped  on  the  hearts  of  every  ruler,  and  of  all  my  people. 
The  public  man,  in  whom  this  cardinal  maxim  is  not  an  article 
of  inflexible  faith,  is  unworthy  of  his  age  and  nation.  Never 
shall  HE  wear  the  noblest  wreath  of  the  American  ruler,  that 
of  the  Christian  patriot  and  statesman. 

"  The  last  great  duty  of  my  children  is  preeminently  such* 
It  is  the  golden  rule  of  life,  the  whole  duty  of  the  good  citizen; 
for  it  is  the  very  fountain  of  light,  security  and  happiness.  It 
binds  every  private  individual,  throughout  my  land,  as  with  the 
sanctity  and  force  of  a  brother's  ties.  It  binds  every  ruler  as 
with  adamantine  bonds,  when,  in  the  presence  of  his  country, 
he  calls  on  the  God  of  truth,  to  attest  his  sincerity.  LOVE  ONE 
ANOTHER,  is  that  golden  rule.  Love  one  another  with  a  frank, 
constant,  elevated  affection :  with  an  attachment,  undisturbed  by 
selfishness  or  jealousy,  by  levity  or  passion.  Love  one  ano 
ther  fervently,  in  spite  of  injuries,  provocation  and  injustice. 


(  13  ) 

These  are  equally  the  lot  of  communities  and  individuals :  and  he 
is  unwise,  who  does  not  know  that  in  such  case,  the  obligation 
of  love  becomes  stronger  and  more  sacred.  He  is  eminently 
unwise,  who  does  not  know  that  the  love  which  can  forbear  and 
forgive,  is  the  only  safeguard  of  equal  rights  and  interests,  a 
fountain,  utterly  inexhaustible,  of  mutual  blessings  and  common 
enjoyments.  Without  it,  my  people  cannot  be  united,  free, 
prosperous  and  happy.  Whoever,  then,  whether  a  citizen  or  a 
public  man,  shall  teach  or  encourage,  in  word  or  in  deed,  even 
the  least  of  my  children  not  thus  to  love  one  another,  may  be 
fit  for  the  turbulent  republics  of  antiquity  ;  but  his  heart  is  far 
from  me,  and  alien  to  the  regulated  freedom,  the  noble  confi 
dence,  the  frank  and  magnanimous  wisdom,  which  become 
Americans.  He  is  a  foreigner  in  the  land  of  his  birth: 
a  stranger  at  the  very  hearth-stone  of  his  fathers. 

"  Such,  my  sons,  are  the  great  landmarks  of  duty  to  all  my 
children.  You  are  among  the  eminently  favoured  of  those  chil 
dren  :  favourites  of  nature,  in  the  wealth  of  intellectual  endow 
ments  :  favourites  of  fortune,  in  the  auspicious  incidents  of 
your  public  career :  favourites  of  your  country,  in  the  gratitude 
she  felt,  and  the  applause  she  bestowed.  I  respect  your  since- 
rky,  I  honour  your  zeal,  I  acknowledge  your  talents,  patriot 
ism  and  services.  Grant  that  you  have  acted  honestly,  fear 
lessly,  disinterestedly.  Grant  that  the  people  of  your  immedi 
ate  home  have  been  neglected,  injured,  oppressed :  and  that 
folly  or  ignorance,  fraud  or  corruption,  or  all  of  them  combined, 
have  been  the  prolific  causes.  Grant  that  you  have  reasoned, 
and  expostulated,  and  protested  in  vain  :  that  my  people  them 
selves  have  been  slow  to  listen,  and  still  slower  to  believe  :  that 
the  majority  of  their  rulers  have  heard  with  disdain,  or  turned 
away  with  indifference.  With  the  landmarks  of  wisdom  and 
patriotism,  I  have  set  before  you,  what  then  was  your  duty  1 
That  duty  lay  like  a  path-way  of  light,  amidst  those  landmarks. 
He  who  ran  might  read.  Even  the  wayfaring  man  could  not 
err  therein.  That  duty  was  an  alternative.  You  ought  to 
have  acknowledged  that  majority  of  patriots  and  statesmen, 
who  differed  from  you,  to  be  as  probably  right  as  yourselves  : 
and  as  the  power  and  responsibility  were  theirs,  not  yours,  it 
was  your  part,  with  the  humility  which  belongs  only  to  the 
truly  wise,  great  and  good,  to  acquiesce  in  theirs,  as  the  autho- 


(14) 

rized,  if  not  the  better  judgment.  Or,  if  you  believed  that  the 
subject  had  not  yet  been  sufficiently  discussed,  and  still  was  not 
thoroughly  understood,  either  by  your  fellow  citizens  or  your 
fellow  rulers,  then  was  your  duty  equally  plain.  Perseverance 
in  opposition  was  that  duty ;  but  perseverance,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  patriot  statesmen :  resolute,  yet  calm  and  dignified  ; 
uncompromising,  yet  respectful  and  conciliatory  ;  argumenta 
tive  and  eloquent,  but  without  a  look  or  a  word  of  anger,  in 
dignity  or  menace.  These  were  the  immortal  weapons  which 
became  me  and  you  :  this  the  noble  warfare  which  would  have 
honoured  the  glorious  dead,  would  have  vanquished  the  living, 
and  have  challenged  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  posterity. 
Gifted  as  you  are,  how  must  I  mourn  over  the  error  of  your 
choice  ! 

"  Rejecting  these,  the  only  alternatives  of  a  wise  and  high- 
minded  patriotism,  you  have  trodden  a  path,  which  inferior 
men  might  have  selected,  without  amazement  in  their  supe 
riors,  or  danger  to  their  country.  You  have  not  realized  the 
highest  duty,  the  noblest  devotion,  the  purest  sacrifice,  which 
you  owed  to  your  country.  That  duty  was  to  soothe,  not  to  ex 
asperate  ;  to  calm,  not  to  agitate  ;  to  rely  on  the  influence  of 
reason,  not  of  passion ;  of  attachment  not  of  jealousies ;  of 
manly,  candid  sense,  not  of  prejudice.  That  devotion  was  to 
have  cast  yourselves  between  those  rulers  arid  your  country, 
your  whole  country,  the  people  of  the  Union.  There  should 
you  have  pleaded  as  became  those  who  felt  that  the  peace  of 
that  country,  the  integrity  of  that  Union,  yea,  the  very  desti 
ny  of  my  people  were  all  at  stake.  That  sacrifice  was,  in  the 
patriot  spirit  of  magnanimity,  moderation,  and  wisdom,  to  have 
impressed,  most  fervently  and  vehemently,  on  your  immediate 
brethren,  that  although  injured  and  oppressed  by  the  common 
rulers,  as  you  may  have  believed,  through  ignorance  or  ne 
glect,  through  corruption,  or  the  insolence  of  power,  THE  PEO 
PLE  OF  THE  UNION  WERE  GUILTLESS. 

In  the  people  of  the  SOUTH,  where  the  danger  lay,  as  you 
must  admit,  you  should  have  cultivated,  more  anxiously,  so 
lemnly  and  eloquently  than  ever,  love  to  their  brethren  of  the 
north,  a  just  reliance  on  their  good  sense,  an  inflexible  confi 
dence  in  their  good  faith.  You  should  have  laboured,  with  re 
doubled  energy  and  zeal,  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  union  at 


(15) 

the  SOUTH  ;  because  you  believed  that  the  folly,  or  the  igno 
rance,  or  the  injustice  of  the  national  rulers  had  endangered  it 
there.  Your  duty  was  to  have  been  mediators — wise,  discreet, 
calm,  fearless,  between  the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed ;  to 
have  summoned  them,  accuser  and  accused,  before  the  only 
tribunal,  invested  with  authority  to  judge  between  them — THE 
PEOPLE.  You  have  committed  the  error,  the  hardest  to  be 
forgiven — YOU  HAVE  DISTRUSTED  THE  GOOD  SENSE,  THE  JUS 
TICE,  THE  MAGNANIMITY  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  You  have  excited 

and  agitated  the  injured  against  their  brethren ;  you  have  sown 
the  seeds  of  passion,  jealousy,  disgust;  you  have  made  the 
souls  of  ten  thousand  of  my  children,  familiar  with  thoughts  of 
resistance,  tumult  and  civil  war ;  you  have  taught  them,  that 
allegiance  to  me  is  a  question  of  expediency,  not  of  high  and 
holy  duty ;  you  have  endangered  the  peace  of  my  people,  and  the 
integrity  of  their  Union  ,•  you  have  sanctioned  the  leprous  senti 
ment,  '  it  is  time  to  calculate  the  value  of  the  Union.' 

"  Tell  me  riot  that  you  have  loved  me  with  all  the  energy  of 
passion,  with  all  the  purity  and  fidelity  of  a  martyr's  faith.  Tell 
me  not,  that  you  have  dedicated  on  my  altar,  all  the  affections 
of  the  heart,  and  all  the  powers  of  the  understanding.  Tell 
me  not,  that  on  that  altar,  you  are  ready  to  sacrifice  fortune 
and  happiness,  power  and  distinction,  yea,  life  itself.  MINE  is 
THE  ALTAR  OF  PEACE  AND  LOVE.  The  hand  that  is  not  ever 
ready  to  clasp  a  brother's  hand,  brings  an  impious  gift.  The 
lips  that  have  curled,  and  denounced,  and  threatened  a  brother, 
are  touched  with  no  live-coal  from  that  altar.  The  soul  that  is 
the  habitation  of  suspicion,  and  wrath,  and  contumely,  has  upon 
it  the  plague-spot.  IN  WHAT  SPIRIT  HAVE  YOU  LOVED  1  Let 
your  words  and  your  actions,  and  all  their  host  of  followers, 
give  the  answer.  O !  when  the  troubled  thoughts,  which  dwell 
in  your  souls,  were  entering  there,  that  some  guardian  angel  had 
cast  his  scroll  before  you  to  stay  the  severity  of  your  judgment — 
*  Arise  executioner  !'  Tell  me  not  of  your  motives.  I  arraign 
them  not.  I  JUDGE  THE  TREE  BY  ITS  FRUITS.  Could  fountains 
of  sweet  waters  have  sent  forth  the  bitter  streams,  that  tra 
verse  the  land,  scattering  dismay,  and  jealousy,  and  hatred, 
amidst  the  paradise  of  my  people?  TELL  ME,  ARE  THESE  THE 

ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  CHILD'S  FIDELITY,  OF  A  BROTHER'S  LOVE  ? 

"  O  my  sons !  what  a  lot  was  yours,  how  fortunate,  how  en- 


(  16) 

viable  !  O  what  an  opportunity  have  you  lost,  of  ranking  your* 
selves  among  the  noblest  and  best  of  men !  To  you  was  offered 
the  crown  of  disinterested  magnanimity,  of  calm,  elevated,  com 
prehensive  wisdom ;  of  a  patriot  devotion,  worthy  of  Washing 
ton  himself.  In  an  evil  hour,  my  sons,  my  sons,  you  dashed  it 
from  you  for  ever.  Yours  was  the  power  to  heal,  to  save,  to 
bless.  The  past  of  your  lives  attested  at  once  your  capacity, 
your  glory,  and  your  virtue.  The  present  was  rich  in  the  con 
fidence  and  gratitude  of  all  my  children.  The  respect,  the 
love,  the  admiration  of  all  had  invested  you  with  an  authority, 
venerable  for  its  purity  and  intelligence,  powerful  in  its  disin 
terestedness  and  benevolence.  That  authority  was  invincible  in 
your  hands,  HAD  YOU  BEEN  COURAGEOUS  AND  FAITHFUL  TO 
THAT  TRUST.  That  authority  was  potent  to  expose  the  sophis 
try  of  the  cunning,  and  the  arts  of  the  selfish ;  to  vanquish  the 
unjust,  and  break  the  rod  of  the  oppressor.  But  all  its  power 
lay  IN  THE  LAW  OF  LOVE.  Ye  knew  it  not;  for  the  fruits 
of  your  deeds  plead  trumpet-tongued  against  you.  Ye  knew  it 
not ;  but  erased  that  law  from  your  hearts.  Ye  knew  it  not ;  but 
have  struck  from  the  souls  of  thousands  of  my  people  THAT  LAW 
OF  LOVE,  and  have  written  there  THE  LAW  OF  VIOLENCE. 

"  O !  what  an  error  was  this,  in  the  patriot  and  the  states 
man  !  O  !  what  an  error  in  the  patriot,  not  of  a  dark  and  cruel 
heathenism,  but  of  Christianity,  the  religion  of  light  and  love  ! 

0  !  what  an  error  in  the  statesman,  not  of  a  warlike  democracy, 
or  a  ferocious  despotism,  but  of  America,  the  land  of  peace,  the 
refuge  from  religious  and  political  intolerance,  the  heritage  of 
brothers  !    O  my  sons  !  what  an  error  was  this  in  YOU — among 
the  most  honoured  and  beloved  of  my  patriots,  among  the 
most  eminent  and  useful  of  my  statesmen !    Your  country  is 
your  accuser.     My  people  are  your  judges.     Pure,  and  right 
eous,  and  merciful  are  they.  God  send  you  a  safe  deliverance." 

Such,  my  respected  fellow  citizens  and  honoured  rulers,  have 

1  imagined  to  be  the  thoughts  of  our  country.     Such  do  I  so 
lemnly  believe  to  be  the  sentiments  of  the  vast  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  Union.     Such  you  know  to  be  the  opinions  and 
feelings  of  thousands  among  the  good  and  wise  of  Carolina. 
But  a  few  years  since,  I  beheld  in  you  the  model  of  patriot 
statesmen,  an  honour  to  the  name  of  American,  even  more 


(17) 

than  of  Carolinian.  But  a  few  years  since,  and  yours  was  the 
love  and  the  confidence  of  all ;  for  you  were  the  children  of 
Washington.  How  changed  the  scene,  even  you  must  know. 
Confidence  has  yielded  to  distrust ;  and  respect  for  talents,  sta 
tion  and  influence,  have  scarcely  survived  the  banishment  of 
admiration  and  love.  If  I  have  correctly  interpreted  the  senti 
ments  of  our  country,  and  of  that  be  our  country  the  judge,  I 
cannot  disguise  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  my  regrets.  They, 
indeed,  can  avail  neither  you,  nor  my  country.  They  cannot 
rescue  her  from  the  evils  that  have  flowed  from  your  words 
and  deeds ;  nor  deliver  you  from  the  certainty  and  severity  of 
her  sentence.  Whilst  I  deprecate  the  whole  spirit  and  tenor  of 
your  course,  I  desire  solemnly  and  anxiously  to  declare,  that  I 
sit  not  in  judgment  on  your  motives.  Your  motives  are  between 
you  and  your  God.  They  are  your  property.  But  your  words 
and  your  actions  are  the  property  of  your  country.  They  are 
my  property,  as  a  fellow-citizen ;  but  to  be  dealt  with,  in  the 
fear  of  God,  in  love  to  my  country,  in  respect  for  you.  I  have 
spoken,  1  trust,  no  otherwise  than  becomes  the  urbanity  of  the 
gentleman,  and  the  conscientiousness  of  the  Christian,  the  fide 
lity  of  a  brother,  and  the  frankness  of  a  freeman.  I  have 
spoken,  I  trust,  only  as  became  the  advocate  and  vindicator  of 
the  law  of  love.  But  if,  under  the  influence  of  feelings,  grave 
even  to  painfulness,  and  struck  with  almost  a  religious  awe,  I 
have  sinned  against  that  Holy  Law,  be  you  my  accusers,  and  our 
country  my  judge. 

With  a  lively  gratitude  for  the  past,  and  a  deep  regret  for 
the  present, 

I  subscribe  myself, 

Respectfully, 

Your  Fellow  Citizen, 

THOMAS  S.  GRIMKE'. 


10     8 


4 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


LD21A-40m-3,'72  TT  .General  Library 

(Qll73810)476-A-32  University  of  California 

Berkeley 


U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDT3553TE7 


